1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to handheld electronic devices and, more particularly, to a system and method of maintaining data on a handheld electronic device and making it easily available to a user.
2. Background of the Invention
Numerous types of handheld devices are known. Examples of such handheld devices include, for instance, personal data assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellular telephones and the like. Such handheld electronic devices are generally intended to be portable, and thus are relatively small. Many handheld electronic devices also feature wireless communication capability, although many such handheld electronic devices are stand-alone devices that are functional without communication with other devices. With advances in technology, handheld electronic devices are being configured to include greater number of features while having relatively smaller form factors.
Wireless communication between a server and a client such as a handheld electronic device can occur in numerous ways. One mode of communication can be referred to as a “pull” wherein the handheld electronic device transmits a signal requesting data, and in response thereto a server transmits the desired data to the handheld electronic device. Another mode of communication can be referred to as a “push” wherein a server transmits data to a client such as a handheld electronic device without an express request from the client. The transmission of data in either of these fashions requires a certain amount of transmission time, and significant quantities of data can require substantial amounts of time to communicate between the server and the client.
For those handheld electronic devices having a wireless communication capability, it would be desirable to provide to a user data that is meaningful to a user or is desired by a user. It further would be desirable to provide such information to a user on a more or less instantaneous basis so that a user does not need to wait in order to obtain the data that is desired by the user. Such data preferably would be readily accessible to the user. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system and method of providing on a handheld electronic device such data in such a readily accessible fashion.